catalog
by Tale-of-winter
Summary: Future AU. A series of ficlets focusing on the relationship of Belle and Mr. Gold
1. Chapter 1

Isabel told Mr. Gold in passing over dinner one night that she could feel it when he entered the library. Even when she was upstairs reshelving ancient tomes on whales or one of the twenty copies of "Nights in Rodanthe" the library owned, the legacy of the book club, she could tell when he entered. It wasn't the sound of his foot steps or the tap of his cane on the well worn hardwood floors. She claimed that she could sense him and only him.

"That's ridiculous," Mr. Gold said before he could catch himself. He was much more careful about what he said to her now. His words had grown less guarded as they grew together again, but there was still a fear that he would say the absolute wrong thing and she would flee.

"That doesn't keep it from being true," she said then asked him to pass her the salt.

The library was on his way to work. It was a house that had been deeded to the town nearly a hundred years before by an old maid with a lot of money and the conviction that the town desperately needed a library. Now it was filled to the rafters with books. Some days he would close up the shop early then drive down to the library. Mr. Gold would wander through the stacks, looking at the library's wares while he waited for Isabel to close the library.

Until Isabel had been released, the library had only been open intermittently. There were a few volunteers who kept it open for a few hours on Sunday, but no one with what knowledge or energy to run a library that still utilized a card catalog. Even now the library's hours weren't set in stone. Isabel sketched them in chalk on a great slate that hung beside the front door, changing them from week to week as needed. Mr. Gold tried to convince her to keep the library closed and instead spend her time with him, but Isabel refused.

"You can't lock me away," she'd tell him as she wound her scarf around her neck, a final preparation for her walk to the library. "Even if you don't need other people, I do."

As much as he gravitated toward her, she was drawn to him just as much. It was the same force that had brought them together again after Sheriff Swan had broken Isabel out of the lock up. It had brought Isabel to work for Mr. Gold when there were others offering help with much kinder dispositions. It was this same force that alerted her when he drew near.

Being with someone who loved him was a novel experience. Moreover, it was frightening. He hadn't had any close friends in decades, let alone lovers. He had resigned himself to being completely alone. The absence of Isabel had only made him more hardened to those around him.

And now he had her. She was still recovering, yet they were making progress. He had been prepared for her to completely reject him, but she had not. With Isabel there was no shouting or crying or harsh words.

They had started with coffee at the diner once a week and worked from there. He had paid for her to stay in the B & B while she looked for somewhere to stay. It seemed too forward to ask her to come and live with him, though that was what he had really wished for.

Now she would come and lean over his shoulder as he read at one of the library's tables, to tuck his hair back behind his ears and snoop on just what he was reading. If he was even luckier, she would brush a kiss on his cheek before she pulled away. It felt somewhat as if it might be the bellweather of some intimacy between them brewing in the distance. Mr. Gold knew he would accept it when it arrived, regardless of the form it took.

If she wanted to trade only platonic affection with him, the same as with Sheriff Swan or Miss Blanchard, that would be just as well. If she wished to spend her days fighting back dust and chaos in the library she would never be able to control, he could devote a few hours a day to keeping her company there. Mr. Gold was careful to never push her away nor draw her toward him when that was not what she wished.


	2. Chapter 2

Mr. Gold's coat had been soaked just walking from the front door of the pawn shop to his car. The rain was just a few degrees shy of turning to snow. The car windows fogged up as soon as the interior of the car warmed up forcing him to fiddle with the knobs on the dash until it dissipated. This stretch of the year with the last few rain storms before the snow was always the worst.

He went to the library to wait for Isabel. He would insist on driving her back to the B&B even if she insisted that she didn't mind walking the mile in the rain. On the small pittance the town library paid her, she couldn't afford a car or much else. Aside, it would give him an excuse to be near her. He thought perhaps he could convince her to sit down to dinner with him as well before she retreated to her room. They had been growing steadily closer, but there was still a distance between them. His heart ached, for some reason he couldn't name, each time she called him "Mr. Gold."

Gold shielded himself with that morning's copy of The Mirror on the walk from the little parking lot up the front steps of the house that served as Storybook's library. All was quiet in the library. It seemed that the only occupants were himself and the mayor's son, who was seated behind the circulation desk.

"Can I help you?" Henry Mills asked.

"Is Miss French in?"

"Yes, but she's on the phone to another library. She said not to disturb her. I can help you," he said.

The boy was always so cheerful, despite it all. Mr. Gold was not particularly fond of the boy, but even he didn't wish anyone the burden of having Regina for a mother. Of course, he had to wonder if Regina knew the boy was there.

He declined and excused himself to go browse the small collection of books on antiques hidden away in a corner out of view of the circulation desk. He could hear the distinct creaking of the chair at the circulation desk as Henry spun around in it. Mr. Gold was thumbing through a book on pottery of New England when the noise stopped. When he looked up, Henry was behind him, peeking at him from behind a bookshelf.

"Can I help you?" Mr. Gold asked.

"Why did you come to see Miss French?"

"We're friends."

He looked back to his book, hoping that the boy would take the hint and leave him be.

"But you don't have any friends," Henry said.

"That is untrue. You can ask Miss French when she returns."

"I've been trying to figure out who you are. I wasn't sure, but I think I know now."

"What are you on about?" Mr. Gold asked, snapping his book shut and turning to look at the boy.

"I thought you were a villain, but now I don't think so. If I'm right, will you tell me?"

"Does your mother know you're here?"

"Are you the beast? You can tell me if you are. Because I think Miss French is Belle. And if you're the beast then that explains a lot."

Mr. Gold was unsure whether he should cuff the boy or call his mother. He settled for hobbling away, too furious to walk smoothly, to the small office which had once served as a kitchen were Isabel was still on the phone.

"Why is this child unsupervised?"

She seemed distracted by what she was hearing. Isabel pointed at the phone she held in an exaggerated manner before hurrying to scribble something down on the note pad in front of her.

Henry pushed past Mr. Gold into the kitchen, going to stand beside Isabel.

"He's just mad because I'm right."

"Can I call you back in a little while?" Isabel asked whoever she was on the phone with. "I've got an angry patron to deal with."

She hung up her phone.

"Right about what?" Isabel asked.

"He's the beast and you're Belle."

Isabel laughed. "What are you talking about, Henry?"

"It's complicated," Henry said, waving his hands. "All you need to know is that you're supposed to be together."

"You should call his mother. I doubt she knows where he is," Mr. Gold said, trying to contain his temper.

"Henry, did you leave without telling your mother where you were going?"

"I'm on my way to Dr. Hoppers. I just decided to stop here until the rain stopped."

"I'm sure Mr. Gold can give you a ride to Dr. Hopper's, can't you?"

She gave him a pointed look. Her hand was still on her phone, ready to resume as soon as the distraction had passed. As much as he wanted to do this favor for her, he hesitated to do so. Mr. Gold had to be more careful about his actions now that Isabel had returned to his world. If there was one person she might want around Henry less than Isabel, it would be him. He feared reprisal, not for his sake but for hers.

"My mom says I shouldn't talk to strangers," Henry insisted weakly.

"But you know Mr. Gold, and he's only driving you a few blocks. Your mother will have the sheriff out looking for you if you don't get there soon," Isabel said.

Henry sighed and turned back toward Mr. Gold.

"Get your bag," Mr. Gold instructed, and Henry sulked off to retrieve it.

"Thank you," Isabel said with a soft smile.

They were still rare, but they grew more common by the week. It gave him some hope.

"You're in my debt now, you realize?"

Isabel nodded.

He gathered Henry and returned to his car. The rain hadn't lessened and probably wouldn't until the next day. He gave Henry a copy of one of the local community college course guide to shield himself from the rain while Mr. Gold picked up his now half dry copy of The Mirror. They made the walk to the car together. Henry, having reached the far first, waited impatiently for Mr. Gold to unlock his door and let him in.

Henry's hair was plastered to his head with rain when they made it into the car. He set the paper down on the floorboard of the passenger seat, on top of where Mr. Gold put his copy of the Mirror and sat with his book bag in his lap.

"Buckle your seat belt," Mr. Gold instructed.

Henry twisted around in his seat to grope with for it. Mr. Gold waited patiently for the boy to buckle up and for the windshield to defog.

"It isn't fair," Henry said as he settled back into his seat.

"What isn't fair?"

"You not telling Miss French who she is. Everyone deserves to be happy. How can she be happy if she doesn't know who she is?"

Mr. Gold pulled out of the library parking lot and on to the street. He didn't particularly want to interact with the boy, even less so if he were going to ask such prying questions. It had been a long time since he had had a child. His temperament had changed, and he hadn't even the excuse of blood as a reason to put up with the boy.

"It's really good for both of you. Because then Miss French has someone to love her and you do too. Neither of you has someone to love you. Miss French has friends, but not any family. You don't even have any friends. You need each other."

Mr. Gold could feel his blood pressure rising. He resisted the urge to stop the car and tell the boy to get out. This was nothing that he hadn't considered since she had returned to town, but Henry's points seemed to lack the other side of his conscience, that Mr. Gold didn't deserve her. He had been cruel to her and there was no way to deny such.

The looks that the townspeople gave her when they shared meals at the diner were terrible. They looked on her with such pity. She'd joked one time to him in private that after their first meal together at the diner, Ruby had spoken to her and asked Isabel if she owed Mr. Gold money. She told Isabel that there were other ways and that Isabel didn't have to spend time with a terrible man like him.

"It's complicated."

"You obviously love her, so why don't you tell her?"

"Because sometime adults who love each other shouldn't be together."

"Why shouldn't you be with Miss French."

"Because she deserves someone kind."

"You can change," Henry said, reaching over to pat Mr. Gold on the shoulder.

Mr. Gold pulled over in front of Dr. Hoppers and put the car in park.

"Thank you for the ride, Mr. Gold. Good luck!" he shouted as he climbed out of the car.

Mr. Gold shook his head and pulled back onto the street to return to the library.


End file.
